Members of Brooklyn Band Yellow Dogs Killed in Murder-Suicide in East Williamsburg

The shooter was not a former member of the band The Yellow Dogs, he was in another band from Iran and the two groups were acquaintances in the past. A personal conflict between the guys resulted in the dissolution of their relationship in 2012. The shooting resulted in the death of two of the members of the Yellow Dogs, Sourosh Farazmand (guitarist) and Arash Farazmand (drummer), along with a friend of theirs, fellow musician and author Ali Eskandarian. The shooter died from a self inflicted bullet wound on site.

Update 12:55 p.m.:The New York Times has changed their story. The shooter was possibly a member of the Yellow Dogs, or possibly a member of another band, the Freakies, according to New York police commissioner Ray Kelly. Kelly said the motive was "a dispute over money involving an indie rock band." Meanwhile, the AP reports that according to the Yellow Dogs' manager, the shooter was a member of a band called the "Free Keys". The New York Times says that all three of the dead were members of the Yellow Dogs; however, the AP says that only two of the dead were in the Yellow Dogs, while the third was a musician who was not in the band.

A member of the Brooklyn indie bandthe Yellow Dogs shot and killed three people last night, wounded another, and then turned the gun on himself, The New York Times reports. According to the Times, at least some of the victims were the shooter's bandmates. The shootings took place in an East Williamsburg building that the band identified as their headquarters on their Facebook page.

The band members, who are from Iran, have spoken openly about their experiences emigrating from Tehran, where they organized concerts in secret. "We can't go back to Iran," the band's singer, Obash, explained in an interview with eMusic. "Our parents, they have never seen us play." According to the Times, members of the band were granted asylum last year. Their last release, the Upper Class Complexity EP, came out last spring.

Update 11:25 am:The Wall Street Journal reports that the shooter was Raefe Akhbar. His victims were guitarist Soroush Farazmand, singer Ali Eskandarian, and drummer Arash Farazmand. Akhbar had recently been kicked out of the band, according to The Wall Street Journal.